RE: tlug: X resolution / color depth

[Matt Gushee <matt@example.com>]

Scott Stone writes:

 > So, (and this is to everyone), what are the main things that you *don't*
 > like about RPM?

The one thing that I find a RPIP (royal pain in the posterior) is that 
the dependency info lumps together three rather different things: 1)
programs/libraries that support the basic functionality of the package 
you're installing (e.g. you need to have Perl installed in order to
run a Perl program), and 2) programs/libraries without which the 
package will lose some functions and/or need reconfiguration, and 3)
programs/libraries that somebody thinks are cool, so you ought to use
them.

For example, if you want to use RedHat's Printtool to graphically set
up your printer, instead of mucking around in the dark depths of
printcap, the dependencies say you need:

	control-panel (which requires Python, Tcl/Tk,
			AND GTK --gimme a break!)
	ghostscript
	rhs-printfilters
	mpage (a program for putting multiple pages on one
			printed page)

Ghostscript?? Okay, it's very useful (and I do use it sometimes), but
it really has nothing to do with printer setup (and Printtool will
work without it). And if (for some
strange reason) you only ever wanted to print plain text, or if you
had a PostScript printer and didn't use TeX, then you might really
have no need for Ghostscript. Or you might be setting up a
new system and want to start printing before you have GS installed.

So my idea of a more sensible approach would be to divide the dependencies into 'required' and
'recommended' types. Then if you tried to install a package without
having one of the required packages, the installation would exit with
an error, as it does now. But if you were missing a recommended
package, you would get a warning message (perhaps with a brief
explanation of how the recommended package could make your life
beautiful :-) and have the option of continuing the installation or
quitting. And of course, for those who prefer to get their hands
dirty, we should be able to configure RPM so that it will shut up
permanently about all the cool recommended packages that will make our 
lives beautiful.

Even if it isn't as elaborate as the above, there ought to be some way of
telling (besides installing with --no-deps and seeing whether it works 
or not) whether the dependency packages are really needed or not.

That's my 2 yen.

Matt Gushee
Oshamanbe, Hokkaido.
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